A camera phone, i.e., a cellular phone having a camera attachment or built-in camera, provides a unique opportunity for its user. In particular, the combination of a camera and a wireless transceiver provides the user the ability to capture images and send the images to other cellular phones. Accordingly, users of camera phones have a communication advantage over users of cellular phones without cameras. If a law enforcement officer has a cellular phone capable of receiving and viewing such images, the camera phone user may send images relating to a crime incident to the law enforcement officer.
A wireless device user at an incident, such as a crime incident, may not have the ability to capture all views as desired, particularly if the user is in motion. For example, the user may not be situated at an optimal position relative to the incident and/or may not have the time to capture the images as he or she desires, particularly if the user is running to or from the incident. In fact, other device users in the vicinity of the incident may have opportunities to capture better views of the incident. Unfortunately, an efficient means for coordinating data capture from multiple users is not available.
Also, an individual may be located in an area with little human presence when an incident, e.g., a kidnapping, mugging, or robbery, occurs. In response, the incident will probably result in a high mobility response, particularly if the individual is alone at the incident and desires the assistance of others. For instance, an assault victim may flee from the attacker, or a kidnapping victim may be trapped in a moving vehicle driven by an abductor. In this type of situation, eye witnesses may be absent or too far away to give credible evidence, it may be difficult to track the incident without adversely attracting attention to the pursuit and potentially endangering the victim, and law enforcement personnel may not be able to receive real-time updates of the scene. Without real-time updates, the law enforcement personnel may be delayed in taking any counteractive measures to defuse or resolve the situation.
There is a need for a system and method that provides an individual with guidance for moving from a scarcely monitored area to a more highly monitored area. There is also a need for a system and method that reconstructs an incident based on data collected from an ad hoc collection of mobile devices. Personal safety of an individual may be enhanced if law enforcement personnel have the capability to monitor movements of the individual in real-time. It would be particularly helpful to utilize multimedia-capable devices in the individual's vicinity to monitor movements even when the individual is highly mobile.